My greatest trouble in England arose from my refusal to give up my Romanian nationality. In retrospect this may seem bizarre, especially that I was menaced on a number of fronts: by Securitate operatives masquerading as diplomats, keen to end my flouting of socialist order and drag me back to Romania; by a prospective mother-in-law who refused to allow her daughter to marry me, unless I accepted British citizenship… and by officials of the British Home Office, who assumed that my desire to retain what I saw as my unalienable right of birth, my nationality, might stem from communist loyalties.
Entries Tagged as 'Memoir'
“Continental Drift: Colliding Continents, Converging Cultures” – Review by Prof. Thomas G. Gallagher
May 3rd, 2016 · Comments Off on “Continental Drift: Colliding Continents, Converging Cultures” – Review by Prof. Thomas G. Gallagher · Books, Diary, Diaspora, Education, Famous People, International Media, OPINION, PEOPLE, quotations, Science
Constantin Roman writes with candour, wit, and humility. His remarkable life story unfolds with effortless simplicity thanks to his ability to write mellifluous English influenced by Romanian cadences. It is clear that he wishes to do service for the country he never lost touch with during 25 years in exile. Perhaps one way is to motivate and instruct young people with similar talents and ambitions to the ones he possessed in the 1960s.
The need for Romanians to rediscover the characteristic of group solidarity which Roman encountered in the British university world but which disappeared in communist Romania is a pressing one. That is why his story deserves to be better-known in Romania.
Tags:"Book Review"·"Constantin Roman"·"Continental Drft Colliding Continents Converging Cultures·book·cambridge·communism·Daily Telegraph·David Floyd·geophysics·Lord Arnold Goodman·Memoir·Romania·Sir Duncan Wilson·T.G. Galagher
Cambridge Memoir (II) – Peterhouse
December 3rd, 2009 · Comments Off on Cambridge Memoir (II) – Peterhouse · Books, Diaspora, PEOPLE, quotations, Uncategorized
Cambridge Memoir (II) – Peterhouse 17. Lord Dewar’s rescue No sooner that I accepted, with great glee, my Presidency of the Peterhouse Grad. Soc. the style of leadership had to change. New blood was needed to inject some tonus in the proceedings and I was determined to encourage more social contacts amongst its members, by […]
Tags:"Continental Drift"·cambridge·Dewar·Memoir·painting·Peterhouse·portrait·Romania
Cambridge Memoir (I) – Peterhouse
December 2nd, 2009 · Comments Off on Cambridge Memoir (I) – Peterhouse · Books, Diaspora, quotations, Uncategorized
Peterhouse has the oldest Hall in Cambridge, going back to its foundation, in 1284. The Hall was restored in the 19c century when it was decorated by William Morris. It could take up to over one hundred undergraduates, but as their number grew, two sittings were introduced and eventually a self-service system. Formal dinners got fewer and attendance was no longer compulsory. However, as meals were heavily subsidized from college funds and benefactions,
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